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 #110816  by Owen
 
Time to start calling your State Rep.

LINK: https://www.delawareonline.com/story/op ... 059510001/

Bump stock ban won't do Delaware any good: Delaware Voices
Thomas D. Shellenberger Published 8:28 a.m. ET Jan. 24, 2018

HB 300 is currently awaiting a committee hearing in the Delaware General Assembly. If signed into law, this bill would make it a felony to “sell, transfer, buy, receive or possess” a trigger crank or bump-fire device.

The bill's synopsis points out that the gunman for the Las Vegas shooting in October of 2017 had a bump fire stock on some of his many weapons. While HB 300 may allow lawmakers to feel good because they are “doing something,” there is no evidence that those urging passage of HB 300 are “doing something” useful.

Bump fire stocks are not a problem in Delaware and, more importantly, there is no evidence that this legislative measure would do anything to curtail the problem if such a problem were to arise.

Murderers only rarely use a rifle of any type to kill. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, there were 11,961 murders nationwide in 2014. The FBI report identified rifles of any type (not limited to semiautomatic rifles) as the weapons used in 248 of those murders, or about 2 percent. Hands, feet, and the like were used to kill 660 people that year, or about 5.5 percent of murders, more than double the number of murders committed with rifles.

Bump stocks are designed to work by allowing the buttstock on a semi-automatic rifle to reciprocate in response to the recoil pulse generated by firing a cartridge. The firing procedure is different: the shooter must keep the trigger finger still and use the movement of the rifle in the stock to press the trigger surface against the finger, instead of the finger moving to pull the trigger.

If done correctly, the recoil of the rifle permits the shooter to fire a number of shots in quick succession.

An accomplished rifle shooter can shoot as quickly (for example, firing 10 aimed shots in 1.39 seconds) with no bump fire device or other gimmicks. If bump fire is desired, there is no need for a trigger crank or manufactured bump fire device. The exact same rate of rapid shooting can be accomplished with a semiautomatic rifle and a rubber band, a shoestring, or a belt loop. Bump fire can also easily be accomplished by just holding the rifle loosely against the shoulder.

The bottom line is that, regardless of whether HB 300 is enacted or not, Delawareans will continue to be able to bump fire by combining the desire to do so with a little bit of knowledge about how it works. It is not dependent on hardware.

For HB 300 to be effective in banning bump fire (which has not been a problem in Delaware), it would have to be expanded to ban rubber bands, string, belt loops and the internet.

Readers may wonder what harm would come from enacting HB 300, even the bill cannot solve an “issue” that has not even occurred in Delaware. There are several problems with the bill.

First, owners of bump stocks and trigger cranks would be forced to either relinquish their property without compensation or become felons. Neither choice is desirable and may make the law subject to legal challenge.

Second, the language of the bill is grossly overbroad. In addition to bump fire stocks and trigger cranks, the bill would make it illegal to possess “any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle.”

Semiautomatic rifles function by feeding cartridges from a magazine. Most rifle magazines are removable. The rifle will fire much slower without a magazine, as the lack of a magazine turns a semiautomatic rifle into a single shot rifle, which was state of the art in about 1875. Thus, the magazine, a part that is required for the rifle to function as designed, could be determined to “accelerate the rate of fire,” making possession a felony.

Similarly, match shooters often have their rifle’s trigger assembly either tuned by a gunsmith or replaced so that the trigger pull is smooth, predictable, and the rifle can be fired with less disturbance of the shooter’s view of the target. A light, smooth trigger can likely be fired incrementally faster than a stiff, unpolished, factory trigger.

Most target shooters are searching for accuracy, not speed, but they too could become felons if HB 300 were to become law.

Certainly, the Las Vegas shooting was horrendous. That said, there is no evidence that the fact that some of the shooter's many weapons sported bump fire stocks increased the carnage. HB 300 is intended to “solve” a problem that we do not have in Delaware and HB 300 would not impact the problem if it arose.

For these reasons, the Delaware State Sportsman’s Association opposes HB 300. A more reasoned approach would be for the General Assembly to pass a bill increasing the penalties for anyone using a bump fire stock in a violent crime.

Thomas D. Shellenberger, an attorney, resides in Hockessin, Delaware and serves as the public information officer for the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association.
 #110973  by airman1968
 
I don't own one but i don't agree with the ban because it is baby steps to total confiscation of all firearms in years to come. We all know what happens after confiscation from history. Guns first, then knives and before you know it the government will tell you how much sugar and milk you can have. On and on....